Recipe

A grill book, especially one geared toward weeknight meals, wouldn’t be complete without burger recipes, For blue cheese lovers, nothing beats a beef burger seared on the outside, with a warm nugget of melting cheese in the center, Use a tangy, full-flavored blue cheese with lots of blue veining and a hint of salt. I’ve kept these burgers simple, with the addition of just lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise, but add whatever condiments you like, including bacon strips or grilled onions.

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

1½ pounds freshly ground beef chunk

3 tablespoons grated yellow onion

1 tablespoon crumbled thyme

1½ teaspoons freshly ground pepper

4 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese

2 tablespoons canola oil

4 seasame-seed hamburger buns, split

4 lettuce leaves

1 large tomato, sliced

Mayonnaise

Pickles

Directions

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill on high.

In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion, thyme, and pepper and mix thoroughly.

Divide into 4 equal portions and shape each portion into a ball. Press your thumb into the top of a ball, making a depression about 1 inch deep. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the cheese into the depression, press the beef over the cheese to enclose it, and shape the ball into a patty 1 inch thick. Repeat to form 3 more patties. Refrigerate the patties while the grill heats.

Oil the grill grate.

Brush the burgers on both sides with the canola oil. Place the burgers directly over the hot fire and sear on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and sear on the other side until juicy and medium-rare, about 4 minutes more.

Place the buns, cut side down, on the grill to toast during the last minute the burgers are cooking.

Serve the burgers on the toasted buns with the lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. Pass the pickles.